The Age of Bullshit

The Age of Bullshit

It’s hard to find truth in this world, my world, this shithole of conformity that squeezes every molecule of truth out of everything.  This colossal pile of shit is most evident in government, where devious lawyers convene to double talk their way into riches.  Information, which is supposedly the domain of the news, is sandwiched between one useless product after another, or more pernicious, the constant stream of bullshit we are bombarded by prevaricators, whores if you will of those unscrupulous bastards who will shit on the environment and call it fertilizer.   While there are too many mention, the drug pushers, not the honest dealers who trade in illegal substances but the bastards who with chemists find compounds to address the many and varied afflictions befalling humans, are perhaps the worst for they offer salvation with a cautionary provision, like curing an itch and a rash with a drug that may cause one to lapse into a coma.  Yet, in the grand scheme of things they at least pass the litmus test of possessing some redeeming value.  But the oil companies are perhaps the greatest collection of lying bullshitting bastards that the world has ever experienced.    One might add all energy companies both public and private, coal as well gas.  Energy people are like mold spores, if left untreated they sprout everywhere and grow and grow.  Take the latest rendition of bullshit coming from BP.  They have the audacity to get on television with their whores telling us, the general public, how great the gulf coast is doing.  The message in the message is simply, “Shit, we dumped gazillion gallons of crude in the coast but everything is ok.  Everything is just fine.”  Bullshit! 

How about the pipe line assholes?  They got a major spill, but they want to tell us that future pipelines will be safe.  Huh?  Or the coal guys claiming there is clean burning carbon?  It is fucking fantasy world of misbegotten thieves telling us bullshit.  Of course, our corporate news, in an effort to be balanced (right?), present opposing views as if they are fucking ostriches, head in the sand, or perhaps more accurately described as head up their asses, letting lying bastards share the same forum as meaningful watchdogs.  Worse, they sell air time to bastards who can hire attractive authoritative women to tell us how much they are doing for us.  It is a game that is designed for the limited mind, and unfortunately too many of us fall into this category.  Picture the gun totting idiot who believes he needs an arsenal to protect his home when in fact he is so disagreeable even his family doesn’t want to visit.  Of course, let’s not forget the NRA and its minions of cave men declaring the sanctity of the 2^nd amendment while blood flows from the halls of an elementary school and its chief asshole declares the way to solve this problem is to arm the senile and send them off to school, cataracts notwithstanding, to shoot and any interloper even the principal heading to the men’s room with an overactive prostrate.  And the news stations cover this jerk as if it is a legitimate story rather than sending someone to go to the press conference and nail his ass or at least break out in hysterical laughter at his absurd statements.  Of course, bullshitters, when pushed, just walk away or continue mouthing talking points like some toy doll with a string.  It is unbelievable how must crap is packaged and force fed either through commercials or through supposedly legitimate news outlets. 

               The talking heads are the worse sitting there in their Saville row suits reading the teleprompter, diction and inflection perfect, all prim and proper with not a scintilla of forthrightness, pretty people so confident so pristine in their absolute absurd role as purveyor of bullshit.  Then we need to shift our attention to the morning shows that have someone how discovered that if they babble like idiots, not to denigrate people of limited intelligence for they possess for more sincerity and integrity than these high paid clowns,  and chuckle like they are deranged to seem on common ground with the audience who will hopefully tune in and the station can reap its rewards.  On and on they go, I even heard one to declare that someone had an angel looking out for them.  Here we are in the 21^st century and some tv personality is promoting out right silliness.  People can believe angels, many do, but shouldn’t the news be fact based and made to simply convey what is real or as real as we can determine.  But alas the human species has long ago relied on mysticism to explain phenomenon that our limited capacity could not grasp.  Angels, fairies, and the host of other products of human imaginations linger in consciousness for reality still needs to be reduced to our limited capacity.

               Move on, to the opinion shows with their collection laughing hyenas, again not to denigrate a species that has made a remarkable work of survival, pontificating on any subject with thesis as vapid as their insincerity.  How they dissect positions with such acuity as to make one wonder how in the hell can anyone continue to exhaust a subject that really can be reduced to a single word, bullshit.  But this is the self-promoting, self-perpetuating wing of the news division.  The sole design of this unique and fatuous production is to reinforce polarity and confirm in the minds of those troglodytes (not to disparage those early cave dwellers who were quite remarkable in the evolutionary chain) who stand about bleating and explaining stuff that most of us have long ago eliminated from our thinking lives.  My personal favorites are the street preacher grasping with diction and sophistication to explain things in a fashion that a preschool child would find simplistic and the strident lesbian who feels compels to emote disdain as if she is the modern day Sphinx though I could solve her riddle, Shut the fuck up!  My missive will go unheeded though these pontificators will go on and on till someone shuts them off.

               In an aside, I should cast a disgusting glance at the current crop of Neanderthals (not to demean another in the human evolutionary cycle that made great strides in survival) who parade as conservatives when they are little more than know nothing bigots who disguise their prejudice behind their bogus claims of morality and patriotism.  The ones who are really grating possess a British accent and claim absolute superiority in all areas of public policy except in matters where their devious and criminal mogul tells them to shut up.  Then like a scared kitten who hears a loud boom, they hide. 

               This is the state of information in the age of bullshit.  Nothing is real; everything is the product of devious executives who sell more and more of shit we just don’t need and in some cases is detrimental to our well-being, even our survival.  These greedy bastards have slinked their way into the high offices of decision making where like “Jabba the Hutt” they preside over our information network regurgitating their own evil and nasty perspective (though they don’t even possess a scintilla of whatever it means to be real and true) and because they are so hideous as human beings they secure the services of ready-made personalities who like whores (not to demean those in that age old honorable profession who for whatever reason find themselves servicing the base needs of the human male and by the way that is another topic: the exploitation of women) don make-up and fancy apparel and read and follow orders and fill the quiet hours of desperation with senseless babble designed to get us, the viewers, to the next commercial message.  This world where the pursuit of truth has been abandoned in hysteria and hype, this world where sensationalism has replaced true reporting, this world where the tried and true is little more than the proven rating winner, this world where the masses are perceived and treated as mindless consumers, this world where the pollsters have dissected the human consciousness and feed the results to this grotesque collection of fools who confirmed Menken’s observation of many years ago, “No one in this world . . . has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.  Nor has anyone every lost public office thereby.”

Papal Nonsense

The New Pope and Celebrity Junkies

The white smoke went up, the new pope stepped out on the balcony, and everybody gushed with praise.  The news personalities (they aren’t really reporters) began to babble away.  “He is a simple man.”  “Look a wooden cross.”  Then the spin masters of the church, the bishops and Vatican experts, spoke their scripts about how holy the new pontiff was offering insight into his humility and by inference the goodness of the church and all that jazz.  Then the pageantry followed that display of opulence that people love, colorful displays of excess, processions of medieval soldiers and all that goes along with an anachronism.  The faithful, who have been duped ever sense the Romans stole the church from the true Christians, flail about like koi in a too small pond, looking to grab whatever morsel falls from high.  For those who think this characterization is too cynical, too critical, consider this.

We have a church that ministers to millions in this 21^st century and yet its practices remain stuck in some time warp.  While it is progress to note that the practices of the Inquisition have long past, it must be remember these “holy men” were the dispensers of torture that only the sickest of our species still practice.  Today, the Catholic Church is an institution that enslaves its most devoted with cannon “laws” that are outdated and serve little but to make delusional old men think they are promoting the word of god. 

That said, let’s start with the news personalities who are all flushed with excitement over the election of the new pope though behind the scenes some executive is eyeballing the ratings dictating what shows up on the screen all the while selling space to those who would bloat us with useless food products or medicines to rid of us acne or keep men erect.  See how they solicit comments from the clergy and collect all that “expert” opinion, background if you will, that supposedly put things in “context.”  As they extol these “holy” men before us they never ask the questions that need to be asked and more importantly answered by those who claim authority in the church?  Let’s start with pedophiles.  When are those in authority in the church going to work with law enforcement to expose and bring to justice the creeps who have been masquerading as spiritual leaders when they are nothing but scum?  Is this too harsh of a question on this solemn of all occasions?  If not now when?    And the next question might be, how about the nuns?  When is the church going to stop enslaving women and chastising them for doing charitable work?  The last pope was highly critical of nuns taking an active role in charity work, real charity work, not that other stuff which was another safe haven for creeps.  While we are on the subject of women, what is the deal with this cannon law that only men can be priests?  Where did this law come from?  It certainly didn’t come from Jesus because two women in particular were very close to him, some say even closer than distorted apostolic history would have it.  Then there is this celibacy stuff.  OK, I can deal with religious types of all persuasion adhering to this sacrifice, but come on now.  History and practice have shown that it isn’t too big of deal, just look at other Christian religions, they seem to do OK with married clergy.  Certainly, other issues, like gay rights and birth control are matters that a 21^st century church should not only tolerate but embrace.

Sure, we have a new pope, but one has to wonder if anything will come from an institution so stuck in the arcane practices of a by-gone era.  Most likely this bastion of faith will continue on its trajectory.  If so, what is the big deal with this nonevent?  It seems to be but another empty pageantry signifying nothing.  So let the bishops gush, let the news personality fawn, let the faithful swooned, but me I want to see if any real change comes out of this hullaballoo. 

To my mind, I think quite frankly this particular sect of Christianity needs to get on with the business of Christian principles and I am not talking about what born again tv talking money grabbers refer to.  I am talking about charity and love and forgiveness.  I am thinking that if Jesus were around, he would be as pissed as when he went into the temple and saw all the money changers.  You will recall he drove those supposed priests out of the temple.   

Terrorism Disguised As News

 

 

It came to me after seeing the rants of both Rove and Trump that they are terrorists.  If one looks at the definition of the term one finds that it states among other definitions that a terroist is “a person who terrorizes or frightens others.”  An interesting discussion on Morning Joe observed that there are those who profit from exploiting the bias and hate that permeates our society.  This group of supposed analysts continues to present a position that does little but reduce any serious discussion to name-calling.  That we face a gridlock in our government is owed to the fact that this minority of supposed objective observers are little more than snake oil salesmen selling a product that does little but enflame the fear that they create.

The fact is this operation is only about making money and if the country is broken beyond repair they smile a wry smile for it means that they can sell more junk on its commercial breaks and books and papers.  That a sacred trust, The First Amendment, can be torn to shed in the pursuit of profit should be a telltale sign that fair and balanced is only a slogan, a fabricated catch phrase.  Any discussion of Fox must be done in the context of News Corp, its parent company.  A corporation found to have violated decency and privacy to get sensationalistic stories to adorn its front pages.  That a corporate culture can allow a young victim’s phone to be hacked in the pursuit of its “reporting” demonstrates that there are no depths, no gutter too slimy for this company.  That a man with a vision colored in slime can then become a force in American journalism affirms his view that there is sizable gullible population ready to buy into its own bias.  The formula for success was quite simple:  First, populate air waves with a legion of leggy blondes (see Mr. Murdoch’s British papers and its reliance on sex to sell), Second hire an army of glib analysts, and lastly enlist zealot politicians.  In short, round up a large collection of whores willing to sell their souls for money and feed their ambitions.

That this collection of reprobates actually had duped a vast majority of Americans is to realize that humanity often times like the lemmings willing rush head long without an idea of where the throng is going.  That this collection of supposed journalists can interpret reality to further enhance their wrongheaded opinions is to realize that honesty in the face bullying stands a formidable opponent.

One hates to put limitations on rights, but the question remains how can an Australian sleaze merchant get to operate a “news” network in the United States.   How?  Of course, sitting on the throne of power is Roger Ailes, a media consultant for Reagan, Nixon, and Giuliani.  One can only imagine how this Jabba the Hut like character presides over the operations, indeed the Star Wars analogy is not that far off.   One thing is certain with Fox is that you either stay in lock step or you are banish.  When Beck stepped out of line, he was banished to the internet.  No one messes with Jabba, no one.

This collection of supposed news people have garnered a sizable audience, proving little save that people are hungry and need the solace of drones who feed them what they want to hear.  That presentations are caustic and inflammatory provide an outlet for the angst that seethes inside.  That glib blondes and vociferous egg heads pontificate about morals and issues while ignoring decency and ethics and get away with by calling it fair and balance is a paradox of 21^st century media.  All the while, this farce continues to stroke the hatred that consumes individuals, the nation, and the government.  That the electorate sent a resounding message of compassion and concern should give this monolith of hate and ignorance a wake-up call, but it won’t, for there is still a profit to be made in stroking the flames of hatred and ignorance.  Lincoln’s words ring out, “You can’t fool some of the people all of the time.”

Looking at the demographics, it is clear that the country is changing.  We are no long a white country with a black minority.  No, the face of the nation is changing with the many hues and combinations of humanity itself.  If we look deeply at our history we see the many wrongs perpetrated with the ideal that there was some who believed that it was their god given right to do whatever it felt like doing.  Adding profit and greed to this affliction made the tragedy left in the wake no surprise.  What the future holds I believe is that the many who followed the nonsense being peddle at Fox with continue to diminish in size and influence.  This election shows that the white scourge of hatred and supposed superiority is but a diminishing influence.  That is why Rove and Trump can scream and yell and claim that everything is wrong.  Indeed from their perspective it is.  Fortunately, their reality doesn’t exist and their influence diminishes as their audience fades away.

Our Dirty Little Secret

 

 

The long arduous presidential campaign season is coming to close.  Thankfully, we all have endured the constant and deafening cries of half-truths and lies.  The candidates have done much to obfuscate and stay clear of issues that are the more compelling, like gun control and global warming.  I lean to the left on all issues and hence my man is the president.  I dislike “etch-a-sketch” Romney not so much for what he is but what he isn’t.  He reminds me of the hard sell snake oil salesman who will do anything; say anything to make the sale.  He is a man without a core, a vacuous salesman.  The only true portrait I have seen was on the Daily Show.  Obama didn’t do much when he had the chance and the fact that the “know nothings” and the “do nothings” Congressmen can point that out is unpardonable in my opinion.  Rather than attempt to work with the troglodytes, on day one of his administration he should have pushed through a budget and a single payer health care.  That said, I still have got to stick with the only hope of turning the corner on the mass stupidity that seems to have a grip on our government. 

Underlying this election, indeed the past four years, has been the rampant racism that still holds this country in a death grip.  While the right will scream at Obama yelling he is dividing this country with his penchant for class warfare, the truth is that the right and its noise makers are little more than a bunch of racists.  So bigoted are they, that if they were to be truly honest with the people they would don white hoods when they go on the air waves.  The sad and most troubling aspect of that scenario would be that they would not lose a single devoted follower. 

Fact is Obama started his presidency with three strikes against him.  Remember that for the longest time, a black man couldn’t be a quarter back in football because of their supposed inferior mental ability.  What preconceived notions did we hold for black politicians.  Our society has place the bar for a black person to be accepted so high that only the truly superior can measure up to it. Thus, we can have a mediocre even an inferior white man, like George W. Bush, and he can sail into a second term based on little save the ability of the apparatchiks and devious handlers, especially the likes of Karl Rove.   To touch a raw nerve of many conservatives, we can see a senile old B actor raised to the status of an icon, based on the some glib remarks and an affable smile.  Yes, President Reagan was slowly slipping into that dark and murky world of an Alzheimer patient while in the oval office. 

We have a president who is bi-racial and has overcome the stiffest of all odds to become a highly educated man.  Yet we can have a nincompoop like Palin mock him as “jive ass” while she is little more than that.  We have Sununu speaks of an endorsement as a racial thing.  Behind all this blather is a deep seated prejudice that I would bet this collection of bigots would deny and scream that the race card was being played if it were mentioned.  Yet the race card was being played time and time again, and it was they who were playing it, not overtly but subtly in all they said and didn’t say.

The election will be tough and close because this country was never really the land of the free.  It was basically the land of the free white people.  It is ironic that the same folks who misread the constitution claiming that it is Christian government oftentimes merely overlook the key amendments to the constitution that truly made this country free, at least on paper. 

To understand how deep the divide is among us, just look at the break down of who is supporting Romney; it is the white folks, especially the old white males.  Interesting to say the least.  Obama needs to be reelected for no other reason than it is time for this country to shed that skin of prejudice.  Like a snake, we need a new skin.  We need to wiggle ourselves from our past.  Most importantly, we need to give the President a fighting chance to do the things he wants to do.  If the old bigots and hate mongers don’t want to go along with this change than we need to do all we can to vote these people out of office and send them back to their caves where they can live out their days in the darkness that have spent their life in.

 

  

It's The Structural Deficit, Stupid

Man oh man, doesn’t any of these so called experts who bloviate on the tube get it.  Really you would think that if you were being paid to have an opinion you would least understand things.  First and foremost, the current deficit didn’t arise in past four years.  There is a fundamental teaching in Buddhism that goes, “If this, then, that.”  A simple concept to be sure and easily understood.  This follows that. 

               To hear the neocons and the blowhards on Fox, you would think that Obama created the budget deficits.  Let get with the facts, when Bush was handed the presidency by a bias court, the budget was balanced.  He then proceeded to propose and get passed a budget with a substantial tax cut.  Then his vice along with the secretary of defense proceeded to plot and plan their adventures in the Middle East.  September 11^th gave these dark and nefarious “evil doers,” the opportunity they were waiting for.  Two things about the misadventures in Iraq will illustrate my thesis.  It was a greedy grab by two disreputable curs to 1) get the oil and dump American crap like Wal-Mart on the Iraqi people and the rest of our toxic capitalism and 2) give Halliburton open access to the US Treasury.   This incursion into the Middle East was really costly, but the Bush Administration with a budgetary sleight of hand was able not to budget for the war.  How that happened is a mystery but how the Democrats let it slip by is unpardonable. 

               When you have a structural deficit, it means simply one is spending more than one is taking in.  Most states are required by law to balance the budget.  So if you hear an ex-governor, like Romney, speak of his experience of balancing a budget, remember it is the law that does it not him.  Of course, governors can fudge the law by developing authorities and other such things, but this is not a discussion of public administration.  Suffice it to say, the federal government is unique because it can print money.  So, here you have these Fox knuckleheads screaming about the deficits when it is their asinine positions responsible for the deficits.   The irony of ironies is that these collections of “No-Nothings” scream their craziness on a supposed business channel.  Only in America, well, not true, this scenario could be played out in Wonderland, because it is very, very curious.

               Where are the Democratic apologists?  Where is the President?  When talking about the deficit, they, he needs to put it to them.  Of course, the “No Nothings” never deal with facts or reality when confronted with an opposition to their inane policies, practices or acts, they merely scream some untruth or resort to name calling all the while adopting some smug know it all demeanor.  That people actually buy into this bull never ceases to amaze me.  Of course, Obama has a hand in this fiscal debacle.

               When Obama was awarded that Peace Prize he should have quoted both Gandhi and King and proceeded to effectively stop the wars.  That act would have been both a political and budgetary act worthy of his campaign.  To have bought into the military BS that a surge was needed was to adopt the policies of Bush and the nefarious characters he had surrounded himself with.  Second, he should have opened an investigation in the actions of the vice president and his cohorts and uncovered the rat’s nest that that office had created.  What I am saying is Obama’s election was a seminal event in this country and the world, his actions from day one should have rose to the lofty historical event.  Unfortunately, the wheels of mediocrity and bullshit spun like it always had.

               Once there was an opportunity to truly part ways with the so called tried and true practice of governing.  There was a window that would have allowed this country to forgo its insane jingoistic practice of economic colonialism.  We should have tarred and feathered the crooks on Wall Street who flagrantly put our economy in the throes of a recession. To employ a line from “On the Waterfront” and to paraphrase, “We could have been a contender” in the ring of a truly new order where the lives of our greatest minds and their dreams could have shaped our actions towards a world order often talked about but never seen.  Alas, the moment has passed and we are stuck with choices.  We live in a world confused and befuddled with moguls strutting about proclaiming their greatness when in fact like us they are bounded by the limits of being human.  To look into the world and not see the absolute horrors that abounds and to blithely assert that there is super class of entrepreneurs who know how to get things done is to close one’s eyes to the present and not have a clue of how we got here.  We are stuck in the bog of our past, chained to positions that make no sense, guided by forces of greed and entitlement.  That the job of president might just be a ceremonial office of bounded by an inability to do what one wants is a reality that might be at the heart of our difficulties.  J.K. Rowling on the Daily Show commenting on the state of our political system suggested that perhaps we should reaffirm our allegiance to the Queen and adopt a parliamentary form of governing.  Because, perhaps, just perhaps, this grand experiment of governance has meet its match in partisan bickering where truth is buried in ideologies, and incompetence reigns supreme, and where knowledge has no place in the face ignorance, and where high ideas are jettison in the pursuit of nonsense.

               Our political parties are merely shades of grey. 

The Bullshit Paradox

 

               My oh my, it is hard to imagine that there was ever a time when more bullshit ruled in the course of an election  then what we are seeing this cycle.   Even though the history of this country is marked by an almost pathological disposition for candidates to wallow in the mud and to lie through their teeth to get to their asses elected, it would seem in this era of television bullshit has soared to new heights.  Spin masters and the candidates themselves have perfected the art of bullshit.  In essence one simply keeps bullshiting even in the face of serious questions or facts.  There really should be no surprise when we discover we have idiots, thieves, degenerates and other disreputable characters passing laws.  To make matters worse our elected idiots then appoint their ilk to seats on the Supreme Court.  It is a wonder this grand experiment in democracy hasn’t blown up before now.  Given the fact that the news room has been converted to a beauty salon reduces our ability to get an honest reporting of the election.  For the most part, all we get are talking heads mouthing bullshit in an attempt to convey the essence of debates.  One cannot watch a single partisan spokesperson explain something without being bombarded with bullshit.  From ignoring reality to just plain lying, we see air time being devoted to bullshit.  Which leads me to the conclusion that we should have political debates conducted in a muddy pig pen and let the candidates have at each other.

               I am a Democrat, have been and will always be one.  Therefore, I find Republican bullshit more distasteful than Democratic bullshit.  I guess I like to think of myself as a man who believes in honest science.  I say honest because there are a whole bunch of dumbbells out there who think science is picking out select passages of Scripture and proclaiming truisms based on stuff written when people still believed the earth was the center of the universe. Now some will say that is a mischaracterization of the Republican Party.  Well, if you hear pronouncements from idiots, like Aiken of Missouri or West of Florida and don’t disavow yourself from them, well, birds of a feather flock together.  Sure I pity a true conservative who has watched his party taken over by folks who defy the characterization that homo sapiens are a rational species.

               This brings me to the current election and this pairing of Romney and Ryan.  With Romney we have a man who will say anything to get elected to whatever office he is running for.  If he is running in a liberal state, well, he espouses liberal positions.  If he is running for the nomination of a party taken over by crazies, well, he espouses the crazies’ position.   He is truly an etch a sketch candidate.  I don’t want to get into his religion, but the whole premise of Mormonism tends to fall into the category of all religions but with a somewhat modern twist, (modern being a historical reference).  Being a Mormon, there is creed to make the world a better place, and I might ask for whom?  What is scary is that the dude is a bishop; now shouldn’t a bishop walk around with something to signify him as a bishop.  A bishop is a serious dude with a serious vow.  I guess Mormons need to go underground or something unlike the Catholics who prance around in gowns and funny hats.  What I am asking is shouldn’t people who have this tie to a specific hierarchy identify themselves and detail his pastoral duties?  Maybe he is mandated by church cannon to turn over all of the nation’s vital statistics so the church can baptize everyone, living or dead.  The elders did do that with Jews who died in concentration camps.

               As for Ryan, he is a person who has embraced ever neocon position, every tea party tenet, and every evangelical aspiration.  He is the poster child of the “no nothings” who parade themselves as patriots, who haven’t a clue of what the world is about or if they do they choose to ignore it.

               Obama is plagued by bullshit as well.  In the second debate, he couldn’t answer many of the questions directly preferring to use the opportunity to skew his opponent.  It seems more important to stay on message than to be genuine.  That the man was at least conscious in this debate spoke volumes to how these candidates are packaged and programmed.  Hell it is like both are Manchurian candidates. 

               Well, time is rapidly approaching when the partisan bullshit will end, and the country can get back to its steady diet of bullshit offered by a whole economy designed around selling stuff, from erections to aluminum siding, from drugs to reality shows.  That a company can spill millions of gallons of oil and then tell us it is working on the environment, to beer commercials touting the benefits of alcoholism among the young, to car companies showing youth how to kill themselves driving too fast, our 21^st century society is a society functioning within an economic system that thrives in a world where truth is relegated to “positions” and it is mandatory that bullshit be given equal time.  Of course, if the folks who bullshit can afford it, they can have all the time their money can buy.

              

The Less Than Great Debate

Hubris

 

                There is a moment in a Greek Tragedy when the main character meets his disastrous fate not from forces without but from the character flaw that drives his persona.  In last night’s debate, we witnessed the flaws of the two men who aspire to be the president in the next term.  Romney is clearly a brash bully who feels entitled, a flip flopper who will say anything to win the hearts and the minds of the electorate.    Obama presents himself as the cool detached man who resides in and presides over a bubble.

                In the case of Romney, we have a man who forces his way into the issues and hammers on points either different from his previous pronouncements or based on fabrications.    He is a skilled prestidigitator, almost a shift shaper, appearing at once both your ally and nemesis.    That he ran and won a party’s nomination on the basis of being more conservative than right wing fanatics and screwballs speaks to his deft ability to appear to be whomever it is you wish to see.

                The president, on the other hand and after four years in the white house, seemed to convey the studied and even temperament of an intellectual armed with reason and civility.  He repeats points as if they are truisms that should be taken by all as gospel.  His gestures and demeanor showed that he is detached from the reality of confrontation.   He was, in short, speaking to the TV audience while his opponent was doing that as well but attacking him directly and indirectly with a barrage of concocted facts and premises, all the while, shaking the  etch a sketch.

                In the end, we got little more than a reality show, which of course has nothing to do with being real.  Fact is that if these guys need a “debate school” to “pimp” them out for a public display then I will conclude Romney had the better “paint job.”  His team took a standard sedan and made it into a hot rod.  While the Obama folks thought they could squeak by just hand waxing the Prius.

                Fact is that neither showed the vision one would expect a leader should demonstrate in these troubling times.  Romney spouted sad allusions to the great nation with the (and I hate this word) awesome military.  To be quite frank, anyone who would admit that they like Snooky of the Jersey Shore should be disqualified for the Presidency on that basis alone.  When asked that question he should have responded, “I don’t watch that shit.”  The president continues to demonstrate that he is no liberal.  He certainly didn’t bring the righteous indignation that most of us liberals harbor.  To stand across from some conservative who talks in clichés and false hoods and not call him out is tantamount to being perceived as weak.  Of course, Obama had abandoned us left wingers a long time ago.  For example, when Romney attacked “Obamacare” where was the retort with the facts to show this country supposed great health care rankings.   Hearing Axelrod the morning after is to hear the strategy, “be cool, be presidential, show the country you are a level headed operator.”  Problem is sometimes the game plan needs to be adjusted to win the game.

                I have a libertarian friend who posted “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” as his take on the debate.  That may have captured the debate from his perspective.  I believe that Romney supporters were energized because people follow bullies.  It is on the rare occasion that someone steps into the fray.  Check out the moderator, a decent man, letting the bully bully.  Underneath all this rhetoric of god and country and conservatism is an outright distaste for people of color.  As for Obama, he will continue along his path being cool and detached.  Unfortunately, I am afraid he will appear as his handlers want him to appear and that is something less than what he should be.  He said it last night when he insisted that at times one has to say no when principles hang in the balance, but where the hell was the passion to defend that position.  Problem is that he had abandoned the high road when he continued the wars, when he opted out of the fray and avoided a single payer provider in the health care law.  He has in short alluded to following the role of Lincoln but he hasn’t even come close to channeling him.